Table Of ContentManaging Systems
Development 101
A Guide to Designing Effective
Commercial Products & Systems for
Engineers & Their Bosses/CEOs
James T. Karam
The Technical Manager’s Survival Guides, Volume 2
Marcus Goncalves, Series Editor
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Table of Contents
Table of Figures.........................................................................................v
Table of Tables..........................................................................................v
Preface....................................................................................................vii
Acknowledgments.....................................................................................ix
Introduction...............................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Project Systems Engineering 101...........................................5
Design Requirements...........................................................................7
Verification & Validation.....................................................................11
Reviews....................................................................................................12
Analysis & Similarity.................................................................................15
Test...........................................................................................................16
Barbie® Dolls.....................................................................................18
Change Management.........................................................................19
Third Time’s the Charm......................................................................20
Chapter 2 Program Planning 101...........................................................23
Noah’s Principle & Earned Value.......................................................32
Scheduling Morality............................................................................42
Management Reserve........................................................................44
Chapter 3 System Evolution...................................................................47
Bid & Proposal....................................................................................47
Architect for Fault Tolerance..............................................................50
Make It Work, then Robust. Only Then, Make It Better....................52
Branching is a Necessary Pain..........................................................53
Numbers are Better than Judgment...................................................54
Customers Need Managing Too........................................................55
Closing Out.........................................................................................56
Chapter 4 Often Forgotten Programming 101........................................57
Chapter 5 User Interface Design 101.....................................................63
Clickable Mockups, Often in Lieu of Specs........................................64
Admittedly Biased Design Practices..................................................65
Chapter 6 Presentations 101..................................................................73
Chapter 7 Find & Flush the Full In-Boxes...............................................77
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Chapter 8 Continuous Improvement 101...............................................79
Categorizing Defects..........................................................................80
Engineering Metrics............................................................................88
Production & Service Metrics.............................................................90
Chapter 9 Performance Ranking 101.....................................................95
Chapter 10 Incentive Criteria 101...........................................................99
Chapter 11 Matrix Organization 101.....................................................103
Chapter 12 Tailor Your Behavior to the Software, not Vice Versa.......107
I’ve Never Found the Software that I’d Rather Write than Buy........108
Closing Thoughts..................................................................................113
Additional Reading................................................................................115
Index.....................................................................................................119
About the Author...................................................................................123
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Table of Figures
Figure 1.1 Key System Engineering Elements........................................6
Figure 1.2 Decomposition Hierarchy.......................................................8
Figure 2.1 Ditch Digging Project Plan....................................................24
Figure 2.2 Estimating with Factors........................................................31
Figure 2.3 CPI Likelihood......................................................................34
Figure 2.4 Cumulative Earned Value.....................................................36
Figure 2.5 Earned Value Indices...........................................................37
Figure 2.6 Incremental Earned Value....................................................39
Figure 2.7 Integrated Earned Value Status...........................................41
Figure 5.1 GUI Illustration......................................................................66
Figure 6.1 Horse Charts........................................................................76
Figure 7.1 Full In-boxes.........................................................................78
Figure 8.1 Bug Quantity.........................................................................89
Figure 8.2 Bug Aging.............................................................................89
Figure 8.3 Work In Progress (WIP) Defects..........................................91
Figure 8.4 Install Defects.......................................................................92
Figure 8.5 Mature Product Post Install Defects.....................................92
Figure 8.6 New Product Post Install Defects.........................................93
Figure 9.1 Merit Pay versus Rank.........................................................98
Figure 10.1 Individual Performance Incentive.....................................100
Figure 10.2 Group Performance Incentive..........................................101
Table of Tables
Table 2.1 Project Planning Granularity..................................................25
Table 8.1 Defect Severity Classes........................................................81
Table 8.2 Defect Urgency Codes..........................................................85
Table 8.3 Known Issues........................................................................87
Table 11.1 Boss Duality in a Matrix.....................................................103
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Preface
I have had the good fortune to be associated with the development of
large-scale systems for over forty years. These are products that are
developed by more than one team, working in parallel, which must be
interfaced and integrated together. The point is not so much their
physical size but the need to manage and integrate multiple efforts
simultaneously. Experience suggests that a single good lead engineer
can indeed keep a design all in his head and direct a handful or so of
engineers. While that works for many games, web applications, and IT
projects, it does not work for systems. There are just too many people
involved, in more than one team, and often not even co-located.
I was particularly blessed to start my career as an R&D officer in the
United States Air Force (USAF) in the timeframe when systems
engineering was being formalized well by the Department of Defense
(DOD), and the Air Force in particular, based on their good and bad
experiences in the late fifties fielding Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
(ICBM’s). As I moved out from aerospace into commercial
developments, there was a learning curve on my part regarding how
much of those aerospace processes and formalism were relevant in this
seemingly different arena. I soon concluded that those processes were
key for any successful system development. Only the formalism was
negotiable or tailorable.
I frequently found myself resurrecting some common threads of advice
and direction as I moved among several industries and company
organization types. It did not seem to matter what we were making, or
whether it was a large multi-national corporation or one with the founder
still in sole control. The engineering management issues were eerily the
same. I would pull out an earlier presentation or document, tweak a logo
and a bit of text, and influence a new set of staff. This book is a heavily
edited and expanded compilation of those lessons re-taught over the
years.
You will find the advice is invariably basic, hence the titles ending in
“101”. The management problems encountered were because of a
failure to understand or enforce those basics, and their enforcement is
not easy. In effect, experience says that your focus should always
remain on these basics.
I have intentionally tried to make this book easy to browse using a
somewhat unique style that evolved over the years. Most chapters use
a bold-type opening sentence in each paragraph. You can get the key
assertions by just skimming them. Those claims are elaborated in the
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rest of the paragraph. If the reader is familiar with systems engineering
terminology, that is probably sufficient. If not, I have often followed with
subsequent indented paragraphs that elaborate further.
This book is likely most valuable to young engineers who are moving out
of their academic specialty into engineering or project management,
about which they probably were taught very little that was practical. And,
yes, I shoulder some of that blame myself since there is a stint of
teaching graduate engineering school on my resume’. The book is also
intentionally succinct. While we usually explain our rationale, rather than
just assert, our intent is to provide the reader with cogent advice that
they can quickly absorb and effectively apply. As such, it should also
serve as a useful quick reminder to more senior professionals, typically
when they have been given a broadening assignment that forces them
into new professional terrain.
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Acknowledgments
David Lapczynski and Dr. Milton Franke were invaluable in their
insightful review and comment on several drafts of this book. Dave is
the COO at Cubic Transportation Systems and was a great last boss as
well as a good friend. At his behest, I would like to beat a dead horse
and re-emphasize the importance of detailed, resourced schedules for
managing projects or product developments. Milt was, in effect, my first
boss as he was my major professor on my Masters thesis at the Air
Force Institute of Technology, where he still actively teaches, and is
likewise a life-long friend. I was blessed with working with many true
professionals all of my career, but none better than these at the start and
end.
I mainly want to thank my wife Alicia for enduring almost thirty years of
marriage while retaining such a gracious and loving spirit. She is my
best friend of all.
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